Bulgaria and Vietnam will work to resume the active bilateral cooperation in economy and education. This is what Head of State Rumen Radev and the first Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Truong  Hoa Binh, who is on a working visit in Bulgaria, agreed on. The two met at 2 Dondukov street today and highlighted the excellent bilateral dialogue, the mutual trust and friendship that connects Bulgaria and Vietnam.

2020 will mark the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and President Rumen Radev invited his Vietnamese counterpart President Nguyen Phu Trong to visit Bulgaria together with a business delegation, which would get familiarized with the opportunities for investments in our country. Both Rumen Radev and  Truong Hoa Bin noted that the annual trade of 100 million US$ is below the potential Bulgaria and Vietnam have.

In November 2019 the next meeting of the Joint Committee for trade and scientific and technological cooperation will be held. It is expected to focus on the economic and investment partnership between Bulgaria and Vietnam. The two highlighted as particularly promising spheres the development of information and communication technologies, biotechnologies, energy, ecology, agriculture, medicine and pharmacy , including by establishing joint ventures. “Vietnam’s high economic growth in the past years is worth appreciation and stirs the interest of the Bulgarian companies,” Rumen Radev emphasized.   With their rich cultural and natural attractions, both Bulgaria and Vietnam have the opportunity to establish themselves as tourist centers.

The Head of State called for restoring also the traditions in bilateral exchange in the sphere of education. In the recent past, 30,000 Vietnamese citizens took their university degree or professional qualification in Bulgaria, and currently a lot of them hold high-level positions in Vietnam and are a real factor for strengthening the ties between the two countries. Truong Hoa Bin expressed Vietnam’s interest in training students in promising spheres such as high technologies, medicine and others.

The two highlighted the good cooperation between Bulgaria and Vietnam within international organizations. Next year Vietnam will chair ASEAN and will work to expand the partnership between Bulgaria and this community.

The situation in the region of the South China sea was also discussed at the meeting and the Bulgarian President voiced our country’s position that all disputable territorial issues should be resolved through dialogue, peaceful means and observing international law.